Sunday, March 04, 2012

Antigua

5:30AM - Busing to Antigua
This morning a shuttle/micro-bus is scheduled to come to the Andina Hotel in Quetzaltenango where I have been staying for the past three nites. We will go to Antigua where we plan to stay for two nites.

On Tuesday we shuttle to Guatemala City for a one nite's stay at the Barcelo Hotel [link].

These last three days in Guatemala should really cap off this trip in a splendid fashion! The Town of Antigua is a marvelous place. And the Barcelo Hotel has a huge hot tub! Man-O-Man! Does it get any better than this? Hmmmm?

Far cry from austere times
Are you a long time Reader of our blog? You may recognize that our lifestyle now is greatly enhanced from those way-back years when we struggled with finances. Sometimes now, we really splurge. Like at the hotels that we will stay at in Guatemala City and Mexico City.

But most of the time, we are being very careful with money. Still, it's far cry now from those austere times when we had to decide whether we could afford to buy cheese or not.

10:30AM - Posada de Don Quijote
It is sooooo much warmer here in the City of Antigua. The very first thing to do now that I am checked into Posada de Don Quijote, is change to a short sleeve shirt and short pants.

I love weather like this!

12 Noon - Joe's Grill
I found an Antigua burger place that was highly rated on the internet. The place is "Grill and Burger". After writing down the address, I hailed a tuk-tuk taxi and asked the driver if he knew this place. He said that he did know, and off we went!

We came to a place called, "Joe's Grill". This is the place, said the taxi driver. However, after he dropped me off I learned that this is not "Grill and Burger". Anyway, I am eating here because the taxi has gone.

I'll guess that I'll find out how good the burgers are here.

Joe's cheeseburger 3.5 stars out of 5

1:30PM - The gouge
The tuk-tuk taxi fare from El Centro Antigua to Joe's Grill is about 15 quetzales. The taxi driver asked for 25 quetzales. I responded with, "Really?!" And he said, "Yes, here in Antigua this is the taxi fare".

So, when I returned to El Centro Antigua, I took the bus. Fare is only 1 quetzal on the bus. Everybody pays the same. No gouging.